Arise Television has of recently thrown its honours to the dogs by engaging in hit and run type of journalism.
It has descended into a jackal of political diabolical misogyny through deliberate misinformation and manipulation of facts. Some other stations like Channels television is equally guilty.
They forgot that media professionalism which is the conduct of media coverage and activities according to high standards of ethics, accountability, legality and credibility, while exercising rights such as freedom of expression and information must always be taken to heart and adhered to in every aspect.
We must however knock into their heads and remind them of the important element in a media environment which is the degree of professionalism and experience of journalists and other media practitioners. Though, it is common that journalists in a country that has only recently emerged from a highly restrictive political system will lack many of the skills and professional standards of their counterparts in a country with a long history of media freedom.
However, the experience of an authoritarian regime may not be entirely negative as we all experienced it during Abacha days where many of today’s practitioners and players were absent and cowardly.
In many cases, courageous independent journalism has played an important part in pressuring dictatorships to open up the political space. Journalists who have successfully investigated and published sensitive stories in such a media environment will have developed professional skills that are unmatched by their colleagues in friendlier circumstances. In the context of an election, the professional challenge will be to bring these skills to bear on a new and unfamiliar set of stories to be reported. This is where these organisations are lacking in skills. They have no new leads, no new stories, no new news to break. They love to feed on dead or dying ones.
It is recognised that most of the ethical and professional issues that journalists encounter in covering elections are variants of what they confront in their everyday working lives. However, these issues and dilemmas may present themselves in particular ways during elections. These may be:
Newsworthiness versus balanced and thorough coverage: News coverage is typically driven by considerations of what is unique or remarkable and therefore of particular interest in an event. Yet electors require fair and balanced presentation of the manifestoes and agendas of the different parties (which may be far from distinct or interesting). How can the media reconcile their news function with their public service function?
Transparency versus integrity of the election process: One of the reasons that the media play an essential role in democracies is that they are able to scrutinise and expose malpractice in elections. However, proper administration of an election also depends on security and confidentiality. Balancing these two elements is an issue for lawmakers and those responsible for drawing up electoral regulations. However it is also a day-to-day practical issue for journalists themselves.
Reporting inflammatory speech: Politicians are more likely to express extreme and inflammatory sentiments during election campaigns – with the intention of impacting large audiences. Yet, it is perhaps paradoxical that while election campaigns are occasions where these sentiments frequently have negative impact or consequences, campaigns are also occasions when freedom to express differing political views is of utmost important. The regulatory implications of this dilemma are for policymakers to resolve. For journalists the challenge is to report inflammatory political speech in a manner that is both accurate and least likely to provoke violence.
Resourcing elections coverage: In the developing world in particular, media outlets often operate with minimal resources, and journalists are often poorly paid. This provides a number of ethical problems for editors. For example, what should a media outlet do if there are not enough journalists (or supporting communication equipment and funding) to cover an election? For some, one answer has been to allow journalists to receive ‘per diem’ or ‘honoraria’ or other material reward for covering a story, sometimes by a candidate or contestant, a practice which although widespread is in fact bribery and detrimental to independent reporting.
It is unfortunate that Arise television has failed woefully in all the above tests through its it’s unbalanced reporting and coverage of political parties and personalities. Arise and others cannot claim to be professional when they seek to bully and vilify some sections of the political class in order to float their preferred ones. They must be halted from this evil practice.
We must demand professionalism from them or be revolted against.
Dr George Olufemi Ogunjimi
Lawyer, Writer & Publisher writes from Goffs Oak, UK
